Bookshare is a service that provides accessible books to qualifying individuals (with one or more of the following conditions: Visual impairment, including blindness, Learning disability that affects reading, Other physical disability). In order to get Bookshare, an individual must be certified as having a qualifying disability.
Bookshare is free for K-12, post-secondary, and a rehabilitation program students in the U.S. Other qualifying individuals must pay a $50 yearly fee (unless they have another organization providing free Bookshare access).
If your child qualifies for a Bookshare account but does not have one, there is no reason to wait any longer. Below, you will find all the information you need to complete an online application for a free Bookshare account for your qualifying child. You will need a Competent Authority in order to get a free Bookshare account (for blind/low vision individuals Bookshare states that “Competent authorities include school and district personnel such as teachers of the visually impaired or special education teachers; medical professionals such as ophthalmologists, optometrists, family doctors; other authorities such as AT specialists, rehabilitation counselors, etc.”).
- Go to Bookshare and begin the application process. You will find an outline of all the questions that will be asked in this blog post: “How to Sign Up for a Bookshare Account Online”
- Download “Individual_Proof_of_Disability.”
- Complete “Step 1” of the Individual_Proof_of_Disability (at the top of page two).
- Save “Individual_Proof_of_Disability” as a Word document.
- Ask a “Competent Authority” to complete the “Individual_Proof_of_Disability” as a PDF and return it to you.
- You may then upload that document to Bookshare.